Mary Lou Rush (Mansfield)'s Obituary
Mary Lou Rush, age 89, died Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017 in Springfield, Missouri. She was born March 25, 1927 in Cabool, Missouri, the daughter of Merritt and Ollie (Redwine) Johnson.
When she was three years old, Mary Lou’s father died in an oil-truck crash. Her mother supported twins Mary Lou and Martha Sue and their younger sister Elsie by teaching school and by working as a tax collector in Cabool. When the twins were 16 and sophomores in high school, the family moved to Mansfield when their mother married the widowed pastor of the Mansfield First Baptist Church, Rev. E. F. Maness.
Classmate Charles Rush and Mary Lou quickly became high school sweethearts, with Charles playing basketball and Mary Lou cheerleading. Upon graduation, Charles enlisted in the Navy during the final months of World War II and Mary Lou enrolled in Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar, where she was chosen as one of the school’s three cheerleaders. Following her graduation with a teaching degree, Charles and Mary Lou were married Dec. 25, 1947, in the Mansfield First Baptist Church parsonage, and made their home in Mansfield. Charles and Mary Lou were married over 50 years, until his death in 1999.
Mary Lou worked as a teacher at Mansfield Elementary School until the couple’s first daughter, Debbie, was born in 1951. Once their second daughter, Karin, was school age, Mary Lou returned to teaching at Mansfield, continuing until her retirement in 1987. In the beginning, she taught third grade. When she returned, she taught sixth grade and also junior high language arts.
Mary Lou was active in church and community activities. She served as president of Lioness Club, and worked regularly with Lioness activities, including the annual Mothers March of Dimes. Each spring for decades, Mary Lou took the lead in decorating for the MHS Alumni Banquet.
At the Mansfield First Baptist Church, during her high school years Mary Lou began as a substitute for the pianist. Soon, she became the church pianist, and when the church purchased its first organ in 1954, Mary Lou became the organist, a job she held, with a few breaks, for nearly 60 years, until she was well into her 80’s.
For numerous years, she was the director of Vacation Bible School at the church, directed the annual childrens’ Christmas pageant, and was a Sunday School teacher. In later years, she was an active member of the church’s hospitality committee.
When her daughters retired from teaching and embarked on second careers as business owners, opening Scrapbook Generation in Springfield in 2004, Mary Lou was skeptical at first, but always supportive. She quickly took up the hobby of scrapbooking, and spent many hours, especially during the cold winter months, creating layouts and preserving memories of her family. She attended many store activities over the years, and loved watching daughters Debbie and Karin and granddaughters Stacey and Allison grow and expand their business.
Mary Lou also loved to read and cross-stitch and crochet, but clothes shopping was undoubtedly her favorite pastime. One of her most well-known traits was a fondness for sweets, especially Krispy Kreme donuts.
She is survived by daughters Debbie (and Don) Sanders, Mansfield, and Karin Rush, Springfield; granddaughters Stacey (and Jeremy) Atchley and children Kaitlin and Jaedan, Republic, and Allison (and Mike) Davis, Republic; great-grandsons Drew Davis and Jackson Davis, brother-in-law Bob (and Theda) Rush; nieces Leslie (and Bob) Marsden and Cathy (and Rodney) Burch; and nephews Mark (and Pam) Rush and Kevin (and Amy) Rush. She was preceeded in death by husband Charles Rush, twin sister Martha Sue Keathley, sister Elsie Meyers, and niece Monica Keathley.
Visitation will be held at 1 pm on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at the Mansfield First Baptist Church in Mansfield, MO. Funeral services will follow at 2 pm. Burial will be in Mansfield Cemetery.
Rev. Kyle Rhea, Rev. Dick Bishop, and Don Sanders will officiate the service, which will feature eulogies by Mary Lou’s former students Doris Grevillius and Warren Findley. Music will include recordings from 2001 of Mary Lou at the organ, playing “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” and “The Lord’s Prayer.”
Escorts are Larry Anderson, Earl Dixon, Steve Eidson, Hank Flageolle, Mike Stuart, and Gordon Vogt. Honorary escorts are David Barnett, Kenneth Dennis, Bob Dixon, John Lemons, George Manville, John Miller, John Tutt, and Clifford Wingo.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Mansfield First Baptist Church.
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